Workflow - Overview
Cora PPM's configurable approval and process engine — the tool that turns a manual email chain into a governed, auditable path from request to decision.
Personas covered: Approver · Workflow Manager · Admin
1. What It Is
Workflow is Cora PPM's generic, configurable approval engine. It isn't tied to one screen or record type — an admin designs a workflow once, as a visual diagram of steps, and attaches it to a record type. From then on, every matching record is routed, approved, and updated automatically along that path.
A workflow is built from a small set of step types wired together on a canvas:
Step Type | Purpose |
|---|---|
Start | Begins the workflow path. |
Condition | Checks criteria and branches the process. |
Approval | Routes the item to one or more approvers. |
Update | Assigns a variable or updates record data. |
Sends notifications to stakeholders. | |
Get Variables | Retrieves values needed later in the workflow. |
Move Project | Moves a project as part of the configured process. |
Baseline | Captures or approves baseline information. |
Register Look-Up | Finds register data for workflow logic or updates. |
Copy Register Item | Copies a register item when approval logic requires it. |
Lock Item | Prevents changes while the governed step is active. |
End Complete / End Rejected | Closes the workflow with an approved or rejected outcome. |
Connect them in sequence and you have a process: gather data, check a condition, route to an approver, take an action, and finish.
Where workflows attach: Smart Forms, the Project Register, Project Requests, Expenses, Portfolio, Cost Book Estimates and Budgets, Financial Budget / Estimate / Forecast / Actuals / Commitments, Baseline Approval, Submit EAC, and Submit Forecast.
Most financial types allow only one active workflow at a time; Smart Forms, Registers, and Project Requests allow one per template, so different forms can run different approval paths.
In one sentence: Workflow replaces a hardcoded status field with a real, visual, auditable process — and every record that moves through it leaves a trail of who did what, and when.
2. Why Customers Use It
Reason | What It Means |
|---|---|
Governance Without Code | Business teams design and version approval paths visually — no development cycle needed to change how a request is routed. |
Numbers Only Become Official on Approval | Baselines, forecasts, and EACs move through a real gate before they're treated as the plan of record. |
Nothing Stalls Silently | Overdue and month-end escalation rules can auto-approve, auto-reject, cancel, or reassign a stuck step. |
Coverage During Absence | Approvals can be delegated to another user, so a single out-of-office approver never blocks a queue. |
Full Audit Trail | Workflow History records every step, actor, decision, and timestamp — evidence for compliance and post-mortems alike. |
Matches Your Org Shape | Single-stage sign-off or multi-stage parallel approval with a vote quorum — both are configuration, not customisation. |
3. Common Use Cases by Project Type
? Manufacture to Order — Order-to-Production Gates
Project Request approval turning a customer order into an active project
Cost Book Estimate / Budget sign-off before production cost is committed
Baseline Approval to lock the production schedule before work releases to the floor
Smart Form–driven engineering change sign-off ahead of a spec revision
? Pharma — Regulated Program Gates
Portfolio stage-gate approval advancing a program between trial phases
Baseline Approval for regulator-facing timelines that can't shift informally
Submit Forecast / Submit EAC approval for clinical trial budget reporting cycles
Smart Form quality and compliance sign-off before a milestone is marked complete
?️ Capital Projects — Funding and Spend Gates
Cost Book Budget approval for capital appropriation requests
Baseline Approval as the gate that releases funding against a plan
Financial Forecast / Actuals approval for periodic capital spend reporting
Project Request approval for new capital project intake and screening
?️ GovCon — Compliance and Reporting Gates
Baseline Approval with PMB code validation to keep the plan EVMS-compliant
Submit EAC / Submit Forecast approval on contract reporting cadences
Financial Commitments approval ahead of obligating contract funds
Register look-up and update steps that keep WBS-linked data synchronised on approval
4. Glossary
Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
PPM | Project Portfolio Management — planning, prioritising, and tracking a portfolio of projects as a set, not one at a time. |
EAC | Estimate at Completion — the current best forecast of total project cost, submitted and approved through Workflow. |
PMB | Performance Measurement Baseline — the time-phased budget plan against which earned value is measured; validated during Baseline Approval on GovCon projects. |
WBS | Work Breakdown Structure — the hierarchical decomposition of project scope that register and baseline steps update on approval. |
EVMS | Earned Value Management System — the cost/schedule performance discipline that GovCon baseline and forecast approvals are built to satisfy. |
MTO | Manufacture to Order — a delivery model where production starts only once a specific customer order is confirmed. |
5. How to Use Workflow
Instance statuses you'll see: Not Started · Waiting for Approval · Paused · Approved · Rejected · Cancelled
A. Acting on an Approval (Approver)
Open Your Approval Queue — Go to the
My Workflow Approvalswidget on your dashboard. It lists every item currently waiting on you, with a donut chart summarising the queue.Review Each Item — Check the item name, workflow type, current step, and how long it's been pending before you act.
Open the Item, or Select Several — Click into a single item for full context, or tick multiple rows to act on them together with bulk Approve or Reject.
Approve or Reject — Choose the action. Some workflows require re-authentication for a sensitive decision, and most require a comment explaining the decision.
Submit — Your decision is recorded immediately. On a multi-stage approval, your vote counts toward the quorum needed before that step completes.
Track What Happens Next — Open
Workflow Historyon the item at any time to see the full trail of steps, actors, and decisions so far.
B. Monitoring and Controlling a Running Instance (Workflow Manager)
Open Workflow Manager — Navigate to
Workflow > Workflow Managerto see every in-flight workflow instance.Find the Instance — Filter by workflow type or status; the list shows current status and current approver for each.
Check Who It's Waiting On — Use the current-approver link if you need to chase, delegate, or explain a delay.
Intervene if Needed — Use
Start / Resume,Pause,Restart, orCancelto control the instance directly.Review the Audit Trail — Open
Workflow Historyfor a complete, timestamped record of every step the instance has passed through.
C. Building or Configuring a Workflow (Admin)
Open the Workflow List — Navigate to
Admin > Workflow > Workflow Listto see every configured workflow.Add or Edit — Click
Addto start a new workflow, or open an existing one. Name it, and choose its Type — the record type it will attach to.Choose the Approval Shape — Set Single Stage for sequential sign-off, or Multiple Stage for parallel approval with a vote quorum.
Design the Diagram — Drag step types onto the canvas: Start, Condition, Approval, Update, Email, Get Variables, Move Project, Baseline, Register Look-Up, Copy Register Item, Lock Item, End Complete, End Rejected.
Connect and Configure Each Step — Wire the steps into order, then set each one's properties: approvers, conditions, variables, and email templates.
Set Escalation Rules — Define what happens if a step goes overdue or hits month-end: auto-approve, auto-reject, auto-cancel, notify, or reassign.
Assign Workflow Managers — Name who can monitor and intervene on live instances once it's active.
Validate — Check the
Workflow Errorsscreen and resolve anything flagged.Save as Draft, Then Activate — Leave it as Draft while testing; for most financial types, only one workflow can be Active per type at a time.
Version When You Need to Change It Later — Editing a live workflow creates a new version; export/import as JSON to move between environments, and use
Workflow Historyto see which version an instance ran on.
6. FAQ
Question | Answer |
|---|---|
My approver is out of office — will the item just sit there? | No. Approvals can be delegated to another user, so coverage doesn't depend on one person being available. A Workflow Manager can also reassign a step directly, and overdue escalation rules can act automatically if nobody responds in time. |
Can two workflows apply to the same type of record? | It depends on the type. Smart Forms, the Project Register, and Project Requests can each have one workflow per template. Most financial types — Baseline Approval, Submit EAC, Submit Forecast, and the Financial Budget/Estimate/Forecast/Actuals/Commitments types — allow only one active workflow at a time. |
What happens if nobody approves in time? | Overdue and month-end escalation rules take over: the step can auto-approve, auto-reject, auto-cancel, email the approver or a specified person, or reassign to someone else, depending on how the workflow is configured. |
What's the difference between single-stage and multi-stage approval? | Single-stage routes to one approver, or one at a time in sequence. Multi-stage runs approvers in parallel and needs enough approve/reject votes to hit a quorum before that step completes. |
Can I see why an item is stuck? | Yes. Open |
If an admin edits a workflow, does that change items already in progress? | Workflows are versioned. Instances already running keep progressing on the version they started on; edits are captured as a new version that new instances pick up once active. |
Who can build or edit a workflow? | Users with the Workflow Manager role for that workflow, or system admins with access to |
Can a running workflow be cancelled or restarted? | Yes, from |
Is there a record of who approved or rejected what? | Yes. Every step, actor, decision, and timestamp is captured in |
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